Labour MP Keir Starmer refuses to apologise for spearheading legal witch hunt against innocent Sun journalists
Former Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer tried to duck blame during a TV interview
FORMER Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer — who authorised the legal witch hunt against Sun journalists — has refused to apologise for the bungled Operation Elveden.
Sir Keir, now a senior Labour MP and Shadow Brexit Secretary, tried to shift the blame onto his successors for the botched £30 million probe during a TV grilling.
Despite acknowledging that not a single one of the 24 Sun journalists arrested were convicted, Sir Keir would not say sorry.
But he did finally concede “we need to just reflect on that and look at the whole way that law, the framework of the law is set out.”
He claimed: “Well most of the prosecutions took place when I ceased to be DPP, I’m not the DPP, I didn’t handle those cases and it’s really not for me to comment on them.”
But Sir Keir Starmer was in charge when the five year process was launched in 2011 with the first dawn raids on journalists’ homes.
Most controversially he was behind the original use of an almost unheard of 13th century law – misconduct in public office – to try justify the Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service’s war on the media.
However he insisted he was not at fault, telling ITV’s Robert Peston: “I obviously have not had anything to do with those cases for three years now so I’m not in a position to comment one way or the other.”
After the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction of Sun reporter Anthony France last week senior MPs from across the political divide called for an investigation into the catastrophe so that it is never repeated.
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Speaking as a constituency MP who campaigned for freed Sun journalist Duncan Larcombe, Sports Minister Tracey Crouch said on Friday: “I am delighted for Anthony France and now hope that he, and the other journalists that have had their lives and careers unnecessarily turned upside down, can begin to rebuild what the past four years knocked down”.
Former Culture Secretary John Whittingdale added: “It does seem extraordinary that prosecutions have gone on this length of time and at such a considerable cost, yet resulted in no convictions of journalists.”
He added: “I hope that lessons will be learned from this.”
Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairman Damian Collins MP told The Sun: “This has been a waste of public money that has caused a huge amount of distress to everyone involved in the investigation.
“It shows the dangers of an ill-thought through reaction to what was an important story at the time.
“Lessons have to be learned from this because clearly the way this investigation was run was flawed, and the way suspects were treated was almost certainly heavy handed.”
Former Labour minister and MP for Vauxhall Kate Hoey added: “A lot of decent journalists and decent policeman have been put under huge stress and there needs to be some kind of examination it was ever started in the first place.
“I hope lessons will be learnt so this can never happen again.”
Last night Dominic Ponsford, editor of the Press Gazette, said Sir Keir Starmer’s comments were “very strange” and it was “inconceivable” he was not involved in the “extremely heavy handed arrests of journalists.”
The respected media commentator said: “the vast majority of these extremely heavy handed arrests, involving dozens of police officers in dawn raids on journalists homes, happened when Sir Keir Starmer was in charge of the CPS.”
He added :”It is inconceivable that the Metropolitan Police did not liaise with the CPS before embarking on this massive operation, so it seems very strange that Sir Keir Starmer does not have an view on it anymore.”
